Safety
New Users Guide Focuses on Creating Pedestrian Safety
National Work Zone Awareness Week Promotes Safety
and Mobility
Proactive Approach Incorporates Surrogate Measurements
into Traffic Simulations
Operations
Just-in-Time Freight Movement Becomes More Intelligent
ITS America Completes 10-Year Plan for Intelligent
Transportation Systems
International
International Inroads Pave the Way for US Improvements
Russia and U.S. Share Mutual Predicament
Training
National Curriculum Council Establishes Pooled-Fund Initiative and
Web site
Safety
New Users Guide Focuses on Creating
Pedestrian Safety
In 2000, more than 4,739 pedestrians were killed and 78,000 were
injured in U.S. motor vehicle crashes. These figures point toward
a need to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety and mobility. Whether
it's making improvements in crosswalks, sidewalks, walkways and pedestrian
technologies, or expanding public education and safety programs, Federal
Highway Administration's (FHWA) Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Research
Program strives to pave the way for a more walkable future.
A part of a larger FHWA study, Evaluation of Pedestrian Facilities,
the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Research Program recently published
the Pedestrian Facilities Users Guide — Providing Safety and
Mobility, to help transportation engineers, planners, and safety
professionals make cities more pedestrian-friendly and safe. The Guide
offers plenty of useful information about safe walking environments,
and highlights the main causes of pedestrian crashes and strategies
for countering them.
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This intersection illustrates the use of several safe features
including the "Walking Pedestrian" signal and a pedestrian
crosswalk. Notice that several of the pedestrians crossing the
street fail to remain within the "safe" crossing zone.
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This photo shows pedestrians standing
on a depressed median, four-lane separator. It might be safer
under certain traffic conditions for the pedestrians to wait for
the light to change on the corner of the road. |
Pedestrian Facilities Users Guide — Providing Safety and
Mobility is also a tool for enabling professionals to identify
pedestrian safety needs within roadway rights-of-way. It defines 13
pedestrian crash-type groupings and the types of possible safety countermeasures
for each group in different crash situations. Along with this information,
the guide also includes the purpose, considerations, and estimated
costs for each countermeasure.
The Pedestrian Facilities Users Guide also supplies a number
of case studies which highlight success stories in Asheville, NC;
Cambridge, MA; Boulder, CO; Fort Pierce, FL; and Portland, OR; including
traffic calming, reducing speed through neighborhoods, revitalizing
downtown areas, and improving safety for children near schools.
A printed version is not yet available; however, the Pedestrian
Facilities Users Guide, is currently available online by visiting
the following Web site: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/peduserguide.pdf
Ann Do
202-493-3319
ann.do@fhwa.dot.gov
National Work Zone Awareness Week Promotes
Safety and Mobility
Despite the efforts of transportation officials to create safe and
mobile work zones, multiple injuries and fatalities continue to occur
across the country. Recent years have demonstrated an alarming upward
trend in work-zone related automobile crashes. In 2000, alone, there
were an estimated 1,093 fatalities in work zones.
To focus attention on the need for work zone safety and mobility,
Federal Highway Administration, State DOTs, and safety partners will
host the third annual National Work Zone Awareness Week from April
8-12, 2002. The theme for this year's campaign is Roadways Keep
America Moving — Drive Safely in Work Zones, which organizers
hope will increase driver awareness in work zones, thereby improving
safety for both motorists and highway workers.
The kick-off on Tuesday, April 9, 2002 will feature a brief presentation
by Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters held at a work zone site
located at the I-95/I-495 Interchange at Ritchie Marlboro Road in
Prince George's County, Maryland. There will also be a ceremonial
unveiling of a memorial wall in honor of those who lost their lives
in work zones. The memorial is a portable wall that can be transported
from location to location. For further information about this event,
contact
Ann Walls
202-366-6836
Proactive Approach Incorporates Surrogate
Measurements into Traffic Simulations
According to accident statistics, intersections are the location
of more than 45 percent of all reported crashes. Predicting potential
driver behavior or traffic collisions is difficult because existing
technology depends highly on statistics gathered after a number of
crashes have already occurred. Crash models are contingent upon retrospective
crash information; the crash statistics may not provide a large enough
sample; and traffic engineers may not have the right type of information
to correctly represent specific conditions on a road or at an intersection.
Additionally, crash models involving realistic conditions - such as
rush hour, traffic flow, bottlenecks, etc. - may not be accurately
portrayed. Relying solely on crash statistics for crash modeling can
be costly - in human safety, and infrastructure investment.
To be proactive, engineers at Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA)
Office of Safety Research and Development (HRDS) have initiated research
to find "surrogate safety measures" in traffic simulation
models that they can use in place of, or in addition to, actual accident
data. Quantifiable conflict measurements that might lead to collisions
include: expected time for two vehicles to collide if they remain
at their present speeds and paths; the time lapse between cars; amount
of space necessary for changing lanes; braking or deceleration to
avoid a collision, etc. In performing this study, researchers must
first identify and define appropriate and measurable surrogate actions
or events, then recommend applicability to existing traffic simulation
models for intersections. They must also develop functional requirements
and logic for the simulation software, which depicts safety measures
for intersections.
After estimating these surrogate safety measures, HRDS plans to make
the logic available for implementation by software vendors. This study
will involve the following:
Phase I
· Gathering information from research literature in surrogate
safety modeling
· Gauging traffic simulation models' capabilities
· Identifying functional requirements
· Developing logic and surrogate safety assessment methodology
Phase II
· Promoting or contributing to the development of a surrogate
safety assessment module
· Validating and incorporating the solution into existing simulation
software.
Once incorporated, the intersection logic will enable safety engineers
and roadway designers to better evaluate the safety and mobility of
both conventional and innovative roadway and intersection designs
and treatments, since the new tools will enable them to simulate more
encompassing and realistic conditions. A contract was awarded for
Phase I of the project, scheduled for completion in December 2002.
Joe Bared
202-493-3314
joe.bared@fhwa.dot.gov
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Intersections are one of the most high-risk traffic spots
in America. This 10-lane example shows several potential safety
problems such as unmarked lanes across the center of the intersection
and cars turning into lanes being crossed by pedestrians.
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Just-in-Time Freight Movement Becomes More
Intelligent
Many businesses and organizations across America rely on "just-in-time"
freight transfer and management to help cut storage costs; streamline
manufacturing; shorten time-to-market; and speed up delivery processes.
Increases and delays in freight movement across the U.S. create juggling
challenges for freight handlers, port terminal managers, and transportation
agencies. A traffic jam, auto crash, construction work zone, major
public event, or inclement weather can wreak havoc on the system,
as freight hubs shuffle traffic, and cargo through the loading, unloading,
discharge, and storage processes. The transportation industry seeks
better tools that will enable them to manage their day-to-day freight
and port operations.
In November 2001, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded two
operational test contracts, resulting from cooperative partnerships
between public and private organizations through the Intermodal Freight
Technology Working Group (IFTWG). The new working group was formed
to examine how technology could increase the efficiency of freight
transportation operations and the tests will help them understand
tracking and location technology requirements. They will use Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS) technology to assist in transporting
and monitoring freight. Both tests seek to provide State and local
agencies with better and timelier information, for helping freight
hubs prevent or lessen port congestion and delays.
Asset and Cargo Visibility Test will focus on transmitting
freight information and movement data about container chassis in and
out of a port terminal. It will include chassis staging and availability
information, plus maintenance information that will help reduce the
movements of unsafe chassis. If successful, it hopes to enhance the
"freight information highway" by providing freight and cargo
information in a standardized format and linking to a backbone information
system. Monitoring chassis movements should make it easier to manage
containers in terminal yards.
Terminal Dray Operations Test plans to help improve
the cross-town freight movement within the Chicago terminal area -
which can normally take three to five days. The test will focus on
transmitting data and information during drayage operations (a dray
is any vehicle used to haul freight) while in and between delivery
ports. Port of Tacoma, in Tacoma, WA, will gather container and loading
information and share it with the Chicago terminal and drayage operations
teams. Chicago will stage trucks to pick up containers as soon as
they are available for movement to another rail line or to an end-destination
customer.
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At this freight hub, hundreds of containers wait to be loaded
onto transportation vehicles at Port Newark.
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Huge cranes at the Port of Long
Beach are unloading the cargo on this super ship. |
The IFTWG plans to continue testing emerging technology and wants
to establish the business case for technology applications, which
improve transportation operations. For more information, visit the
FHWA Operations Core Business Unit (CBU) Web site at www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov.
Mike Onder
202-366-2639
michael.onder@fhwa.dot.gov
Lee Jackson
202-366-4415
lee.jackson@fhwa.dot.gov
ITS America Completes 10-Year Plan for Intelligent
Transportation Systems
ITS America's vision for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
includes operational strategies to improve safety, security, mobility,
the economy, and the environment in the decade ahead.
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) mandated
development of the long-range Intelligent Transportation Systems research
and development plan, including a "road map" (or outline)
of current projects and programs. The U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) chose to implement TEA-21's requirements with two separate documents:
the 5-year program plan, which delineates current programs and projects,
and the 10-year research and program plan. DOT developed the 5-year
program and selected ITS America — a federal advisory committee
— to develop the 10-year plan.
ITS America recently completed the plan, now called The National
Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Plan: A Ten-Year Vision,
and delivered it to DOT. Now the Department will review the work that
has been done and identify the critical needs and focus areas. Besides
the ITS operational strategies to improve safety, security, mobility,
the economy, and the environment over the next ten years, it examines
the needs for supporting ITS deployment. Primary themes of the program
plan focus on social, institutional, and political issues, and include
the following goals:
- Reducing the number and severity of accidents, saving 5,000 to
7,000 lives per year by 2011
- Helping to operate the transportation system more efficiently,
saving at least $20 billion in costs each year
- Saving time by reducing delays, which will save a minimum of 1
billion gallons (3.8 billion liters) of gasoline each year, and
realizing proportionate gains in reducing tailpipe emissions
- Supporting travel choices with current information
- Creating a secure system that relies on gathering and sharing
real-time information to improve detection of and response to national
emergencies or dangerous natural events
The 10-year program plan also identifies the need for an "infostructure"
— an electronic information network that works in concert with
the physical transportation infrastructure. It also calls for introducing
ITS technologies into the institutional framework of surface transportation
and stresses the need for continued research and development of the
intelligent vehicle.
Even though most of the work on the ITS Program Plan was completed
prior to Sept. 11, the overall importance of national security is
clearly articulated in its first pages. Many current technologies
— weigh-in-motion technology, spatial geolocation, and incident
detection systems — can be used as part of homeland defense systems.
To address the role of ITS in maintaining and ensuring homeland security,
DOT and ITS America are assembling resources to develop an update
to the Program Plan, and plan to publish the update in 2002. See The
National Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Plan: A Ten-Year
Vision on the Web at www.itsa.org/.
Susan Slye
202-366-1068
susan.slye@fhwa.dot.gov
International
International Inroads Pave the Way
for US Improvements
By building bridges across international waters, the U.S. transportation
industry decreases research and development costs, expands their knowledge
base of new techniques, and takes advantage of groundbreaking advances
and best practices from around the world. Through international scans,
the American transportation community learns from our neighbors about
their successes and failures; avoids duplicative research and development;
and accelerates application and adoption efforts in the U.S. transportation
system.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) jointly sponsored
the Pavement Preservation International Scanning Tour - which linked
U.S. highway experts with their overseas counterparts to learn about
the newest approaches to transportation policy, operations, planning,
design, construction, and maintenance. A recent international scan
focused on preserving highway and road pavements.
Traditionally, highway agencies allowed the ride quality and structural
condition of their pavements to deteriorate before taking rehabilitative
steps. Pavement rehabilitation is costly and time consuming, resulting
in traffic disruptions and inconvenience to adjacent businesses and
residences. In recent years, an increasing number of international
highway agencies found that applying a series of low-cost pavement
preservation treatments could extend the service lives of their pavements.
In principle, this is similar to an ounce of prevention...is less
costly than a pound of treatment.
The scanning team identified innovative programs and new treatments
for pavement preservation in France, South Africa, and Australia.
These types of innovations and practices are a few samples of the
results available on the Web:
- In the French Charter of Innovation, government and private
industry share the risk of developing new and innovative products.
For new products, they issue an annual request for proposals (RFPs)
and construct test sections. Together, companies and the government
share the costs of conducting surveys. Successful products are then
accepted nationally for inclusion in the preventive maintenance
program.
- South Africa developed a crack activity meter (CAM), which measures
reflective cracking potential and the need to restore the pavement
surface before placing an overlay. The meter measures horizontal
and vertical movement, simultaneously, fits between the dual wheels
of a test vehicle, captures data, and electronically processes the
information.
- The new Australian pavement condition survey vehicle, Road
Crack, detects cracking on the pavement surface, and is more
sophisticated than currently available survey vehicles.
To view an online summary of the scan, please visit the FHWA's International
Technology Web site, at http://www.international.fhwa.dot.gov/links/pubs.cfm".
Hana Maier
202-366-6003
hana.maier@fhwa.dot.gov
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By building bridges across intenational waters, the U.S.
saves costs, takes advantage of groundbreaking advances and
avoids duplicative research from around the world.
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Russia and U.S. Share Mutual Predicament
Every winter, transportation officials in the U.S. and Russia, face
a battle against freezing temperatures, snow, and ice - and the effects
these elements have on road maintenance; snow removal; damaged and
frozen asphalt and concrete rehabilitation; and driver and pedestrian
safety during hazardous conditions.
In December 2001, transportation officials from the Tomsk and Kemerovo
regions in Siberia (located four time zones east of Moscow) visited
and toured the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Turner-Fairbank
Highway Research Center to discover more about FHWA national research;
and they traveled to Minnesota to sign a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT). Siberian transportation
representatives, and Minnesota transportation representatives found
they had similar transportation problems. This joint effort to share
knowledge benefits U.S. and Russian citizens, by reducing research
duplication efforts. In the long run, international research and technology
sharing programs, like this one, will also benefit the U.S. by reducing
research and technology deployment times and by saving tax dollars.
The Siberian delegation was interested in a number of FHWA technologies:
pavement and asphalt maintenance; pavement life extension; and a training
program for publicly and privately employed Siberian highway professionals.
In addition, the Siberian delegation wanted to learn more about the
FHWA "best practices" in the following areas: production
and use of modified asphalt; winter road maintenance; bridge construction
and maintenance; methods for working with wet soils and drainage;
methods for slope stabilization; and technology transfer resources,
methods, and operations for creating a technology transfer (T2) center,
based on the U.S. model.
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Transportation officials from Russia and the Minnesota Department
of Transportation pose for a group shot in front of the DOT
sign.
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This technology sharing is not one-sided - Minnesota DOT transportation
officials are particularly interested in a Russian snowplow extender
that clears snow from behind guardrails. They believe it could prevent
damage to miles of Minnesota guardrail, every winter. Minnesota DOT
was also interested in reversible snowplow blades that extend the
life of the blade and fully utilize precious steel resources. Another
favorite of the Minnesota DOT was Siberia's anti-icing salt that might
prove to be more effective and cheaper than anti-icing technology
in the U.S.
Since December 2000, FHWA has sponsored this international program,
enabling the two transportation departments to share knowledge and
potential solutions for fighting the effects of winter. The next phase
includes sending two Siberian interns to Minnesota in September 2002.
The interns will study Minnesota's financial management of routine
summer and winter maintenance and participate in the National Highway
Institute's (NHI) Instructor Development Course (IDC). Plans are already
in the works for a joint Russian-American seminar on winter maintenance
management in December 2002.
Tracy Nichols Busch
202-366-9807
tracy.busch@fhwa.dot.gov
Training
National Curriculum Council Establishes
Pooled-Fund Initiative and Web site
The Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council (TCCC) brings
together five regional training and certification groups to improve
training opportunities for transportation workers; to develop a national
core curriculum for use by any agency; and to build partnerships among
State highway agencies and industry associations. TCCC membership
includes representatives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA);
the National Highway Institute (NHI); the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials Subcommittees on Construction,
Maintenance, and Materials; and representatives from the construction
industry. Their main goals are to standardize training; reduce duplicative
efforts; and save time and money in developing training materials.
On December 4-5, 2001, the TCCC held their third annual meeting in
New Orleans, LA. The meeting featured topics about work activities
and accomplishments, and highlighted discussions about assembling
a pooled-fund project and developing a Web site. Major features of
the Web site will include State programs and contacts; training courses;
links to regional training and certification programs; and TCCC events
and news. Currently in its initial stages, visitors can visit the
new Web site at www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/tccc.
The TCCC is also compiling an online database of available training
from the various regional certification groups.
A number of work items are ongoing or have been completed since the
December meeting, such as identifying structural fabrication inspection
training opportunities; developing national pollution discharge elimination
systems training through the Association of General Contractors; developing
training for foundations inspectors; and completing training for the
design and implementation of erosion and sediment control. For more
information, or to see the latest NHI course updates, visit www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov.
Christopher Newman
703-235-0524
christopher.newman@fhwa.dot.gov
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